A/N: This fic is going to be darker than I had first intended. I hope you still enjoy. And thank you to all of you who reviewed. And thank you to anyone who voted in my poll. Sorry it took so long to update.
There was a loud crack outside the Burrow. In an instant there were three wands on the girls. Only once they had given sufficient answers to the questions were the wands lowered and they were quickly captured in an embrace.
"It's lovely to see you girls," said Molly, hugging them fiercely. Just then, she noticed that Ron wasn't out greeting them, and neither was Percy. The fact that Percy wasn't there was no surprise. He had not left his room since they had returned from Hogwarts. He felt responsible for Fred's death, as Fred was laughing at a joke he had made before the curse hit him. But Ron should be out here. He'd been dating Hermione for about a week, although it was clear that he had loved her for much longer. She made a mental note to talk to him about it later.
"I'm actually only here for a quick visit," Hermione started. "I'm leaving soon for Australia to find my parents and restore their memories. I'm here because I didn't want to be like Harry and leave without saying anything. That and Ginny wanted me to come."
"But Hermione, dear," Molly began, "What about the ceremony tomorrow? You, Harry and Ronald are supposed to get special awards. I find out when Ron comes home that Harry's not going, and now you aren't either? What happened to the 'Golden Trio'?"
"Mum, calm down. I'm sure Hermione has her reasons. She's not really your daughter, you know, even if you treat her as such. I'm sure she just wants to see her family." Hermione cast a grateful look at George, sending him silent a silent 'thank you'. He nodded, almost imperceptibly and winked at her.
"Isn't Ron going with you to Australia?" Arthur asked.
"No, I'm afraid Ronald is not going anywhere with me. And before you ask, no, we are not together. I'm sorry but I don't want to talk about it either." The Weasleys could tell that Hermione was a little bitter about whatever had happened between herself and the youngest male Weasley. Again, Molly made a mental note to talk to Ronald.
"Well, dear, the least you can do is stay for dinner. It'll be ready soon, and it's best not to travel with an empty stomach."
"Alright, I'll stay for dinner, but then I really do have to leave. Actually, could I possibly borrow Errol? I need to send a letter to Kingsley."
"Why of course, but might I suggest asking Ron for Pig, Errol is getting worse and worse lately."
Hermione sighed, not really wanting to have to explain to the whole Weasley family that she and Ron had a fight. "Ronald and I are not exactly speaking to each other right now. And no offence, but I'd rather not discuss it right now."
"Alright, dear."
Just then, Percy came out of the house. "Hermione, if you want, you can use Hermes. That way you don't have to worry about whether or not your owl gets delivered."
"Thanks, Percy. I appreciate it."
"It's the least I can do, Hermione. I've treated you, and my family, like rubbish for the past two and a half years. I feel like dung for doing it. I'm really glad that I've made up with my family though, because I'm getting married soon."
"WHAT!?" Hermione smiled. It seemed the Weasley men were helping her out by taking the attention off of her and bringing it upon themselves. She grinned at Percy, "Congratulations! I'm happy for you. But, um, good luck with introducing her to the family." She looked around with a laugh, "You know these guys aren't going to make it easy for you or her. Who's the lucky lady anyway?"
"Her name is Audrey. She went to Hogwarts with me, she was in Ravenclaw."
"Percy, why have you not told us about this before now?" asked Arthur.
"I wanted to wait until the entire family was here, and that includes Harry and Hermione. Since it's pretty clear that Harry won't be back for a while, I decided now was as good a time as any."
Just then Molly spoke up, "Well, Percy, dear, when are we going to meet your lovely fiancée? You can't get married before introducing her to the family. I will make sure your brothers don't try to scare her off."
The conversation turned to Percy's upcoming wedding, so Hermione slipped away to write her letter. She was sitting at the table, deep in thought, when Ron came down the stairs. He noticed her right away and wasn't sure what to do. They'd had that fight, yet here she was. He wasn't stupid enough to think that she was there for him, but he wanted her to know that he felt guilty for what had happened between them at Harry's.
As Hermione finished up her letter to Kingsley, explaining that she wouldn't be at the awards ceremony, and that she would send him an owl when she returned from Australia. As she was tying the letter to Hermes, Kreacher appeared with a crack.
'Miss, Master Harry wishes for me to tell you and the Weasley boy and girl that he is sorry he disappeared without saying goodbye. He is not a happy master, he feels much guilt for leaving. He also says that he will gives you a proper goodbye tomorrow after the awards ceremony. He is home again, but asks that you stays here and he will sees you tomorrow."
"Thank you Kreacher , did you give him the letters that I asked you to?"
"I did, Miss. And Master Harry says thank you. He goes to talk to the Headmistress of Hogwarts tomorrow. After the ceremony and before he leaves. But Kreacher has to go back now. Will Miss tell Weasleys for Master?"
"I will, Kreacher . Thank you."
Kreacher disappeared with another crack and Hermione went to find Ginny. "Gin, Ginny? I need to talk to you."
"What's up, Hermione?"
"Kreacher was just here, I will be going to the ceremony tomorrow, and so will Harry. He's at Grimauld Place, but wants us to stay here the night. I think all the stress has finally hit him, and it's hit him hard."
"I know, but at least he's going to be at the ceremony tomorrow, then we can at least have a proper goodbye, and he can say goodbye to the family. Now the question is, are you going to tell my brother, or do you want me to?"
"I'll tell everybody at supper, that way your mum stops being mad at him, and I can tell Ronald without having to speak directly to him."
"Hermione, you really are brilliant, you know that right?"
"I know," she said, smiling.
At dinner that night, Hermione told everyone about Kreature's visit. She told them that she would be going to the ceremony, and possibly ONE party afterwards, but just one. Then she would be off to Australia. Alone. The excuse she made was that she wanted some alone time with her parents, and that she, like Harry, just needed some time alone and away, to let everything sink in, and figure out what she wanted to do with her life, now that it's no longer consumed by the war and destroying Horcruxes. She already knew what she wanted, she wanted to go back to Hogwarts, finish her schooling, and then, when she was all done, she wanted to start a campaign to raise awareness of the poor conditions of non-human creatures in the magical world. She liked fighting for the underdog, especially since she had been the underdog many times before. To be able to afford to start the campaign, and eventually the foundation, she knew she would have to get a decent paying job, and thought that she would like to be a psychologist in both the magical and Muggle communities.
In the magical community, her clientele would mostly be reformed Death Eaters trying to make their way back into the magical community. She had it all planned out, she just needed to finish school and get a degree in psychology first.
"Hermione…Hermione? Herms are you listening?" Ginny's voice pulled Hermione out of her daydreams.
"Sorry, Gin, what were you saying?"
"I was saying that it'll be interesting to see who all gets awards for the war, and what awards they got. It'll be neat to see who the spies were, and who switched sides. Where were you just now?"
"Oh, I was just thinking about what I want to do after school. I've decided that even if Kingsley wants me to become an Auror before finishing my years at Hogwarts and before having the proper training that I'm not going to. I don't want to be an Auror. I want to do something that will help people."
"Being an Auror helps people," said Ron.
"I know, but I prefer to help the underdog, the one's who can't help themselves. I don't want to have to put people in prison I want to help them once they're out. I want to help rehabilitate them. I think I want to be a psychologist."
"A what?" asked George.
"A psychologist, particularly a criminal psychologist. I want to help Death Eaters when they get out of Azkaban. This war has taken a toll on everyone, not just the light side. Like the Muggle song goes, 'Does anyone really win, when every war has to be won, with somebody's son?' (A/N: I know, I changed the lyrics slightly, it's from Aaron Lines' song Somebody's Son). I'm not saying I'm not glad that Voldemort's gone, but both sides lost love ones, and innocent people on both sides had to kill. I want to help those who had no choice."
"That sounds lovely, Hermione," Molly said.
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley. It's going to be a lot of school, but I think I'll be able to manage it. My only problem will be how to pay for it. I'll have to get a job in the summer and I might have to take a year off of school but, I'll do it. I'll probably have to go to a Muggle university, because I want to treat Muggles as well."
"You can come work at the joke shop, Herms. I'll be needing the extra help in the summer. It was relatively busy last summer, even with the war. This year will be even worse with the things that Fred and I came up with while away from the shop."
At the mention of Fred, Mrs. Weasley burst into tears, and Percy's face paled. He still felt guilty, even though his entire family told him more than once that it wasn't his fault that Fred had died. Percy had taken out the bastard who had killed his second youngest brother (George was older by about three minutes) but he still was not satisfied.
A/N: Reviews are very much appreciated. I'm kinda stuck on where Hermione and Draco should meet again. If you have any ideas, leave it in a review or vote in my poll.